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Zarafa vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Zarafa
Ranking in Email Applications
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zimbra Collaboration
Ranking in Email Applications
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of Zarafa is 1.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zimbra Collaboration is 6.0%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration6.0%
Zarafa1.8%
Other92.2%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

it_user302112 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant IT Infrastructure at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Our customers are able to use this groupware solution to connect to Active Directory and OpenLDAP, although Postgres support would be an improvement.
Zarafa has several very valuable features, among them a very good Outlook-like web interface. Furthermore, ZPush for talking between ActiveSync and mobile devices is a valuable asset. In addition, one is able to connect via Outlook and the exchange protocol to Zarafa. This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange.
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This makes Zarafa a free, and working, alternative to Microsoft Exchange."
"For a small company, Zimbra Collaboration is good because it is simple, inexpensive, and not very difficult to deploy."
"The backup and storage management features of Zimbra Collaboration are valuable."
"VMware Zimbra is an enterprise-class E-mail, calendar, and collaboration solution, built for both public and private clouds."
"Premium features, such as auto discovery and archiving, mobile management and HSM, make life much easier."
"We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure."
"One of the most valuable features involves the solution's automatic backup, which I find to be pretty simple and straightforward, and obviates the need for additional software."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"The product is very stable."
 

Cons

"Not really, although the Zarafa-index component was using a lot of memory and disk I/O bandwith."
"Some issues cause the solution not to function correctly or to cause downtime once a month."
"The support was lacking in my experience. However, recently the support I received was good. Perhaps they have improved."
"I can confidently say that Zimbra is good enough for 2,000 client users. But, at the same time, if my client needs more than that and we have two options—Zimbra or Microsoft—I'm going with Microsoft because many admins will speak to Microsoft's ability to handle that many."
"Server deployment and the GUI for emails should be better."
"Zimbra Collaboration could improve the migration from a basic solution to a more containerized solution. For example, the installation should be able to extend to the containers and manage them with some solution, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes."
"There are some security issues."
"Zimbra Collaboration's video conferencing could be improved."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."
"The solution is not expensive compared to other products."
"If you choose the network edition, it is a little pricier. They have the open-source edition too which is only community supported."
"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tivoli, InterAkt Contour, Riagg Rijnmond, Lammerink, Revell, KMP, International School of the Hague
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications. Updated: October 2026.
919,809 professionals have used our research since 2012.